After a hectic major crossover story like the Sinestro Corps War was, it’s bit of a change to suddenly find that the story has shifted to an almost sedate retelling of Hal Jordan’s origins as Green Lantern.  While every bone in my body wanted the story to rush onto Blackest Night, this side trip is incredibly enjoyable and is making waiting a lot easier.

I had thought that the tale had been perfected in New Frontier, but Johns manages to really hit everything perfectly.  This is the Hal Jordan that I want to see in every book he appears in, because here it’s his personality as much as his powers that makes him unique from the rest of the DCU.  Here he finds his life at a low ebb, forced to be a mechanic after being booted from the air force, but once he gets the ring on his finger the sheer joy at being able to fly once more is contagious.  I challenge you not to pump your first just a little as he saves the plane from crashing.

The art is strong.  Carol Fennis (Ferris?  I forget.) here is probably one of the most realistically beautiful women to appear in comics since Alex Maleev’s Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) in New Avengers last year.

This is a grand comic, and if you can still find issue #29 I recomend you getting onboard this title now.